Kasteel Kriek

Brewed by Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck
Style: Fruit Beer
Ingelmunster, Belgium

Deep burgundy/red colour with a thin pink head. Light chewy cherry aroma. Rich cherry pit spiciness. Some other apricot pit/almondy nuttiness. Rich and quite sweet. Cherries and a lovely cinnamon/clove character. Lightly vineous character and a soft cherry/fruitiness. Lingering sweetness with a touch of light tartness. This reminds me of Quelque Chose, but a little bit simpler.

Pours an opaque, strongly reddish mahogany with a fine-bubbled pinkish head. Scent of cherries dominates the the malty aroma. Flavor is almost too sweet, mainly cherry with an undertone of malt. Mouthfeel is smooth and pleasing, and aftertaste is mainly sweet but not cloying with hints of hops.

On tap at the Brick Store in Decatur into a really cool Kasteel chalice. Pours a deep, clear ruby with a pinkish head that lingered as a cap for the duration leaving good lacing. The smell is like a cherry lollipop with big sweet cherries dominating. There is some yeast as well, but its really all about the sugary sweet cherries. Tastes like a cheery cough drop - lots of big sweet cherries. Its very one-dimensional, but still pretty damn tasty. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with lots of carbonation and extremely sticky sweet on the palate. Again, its not very complex, but sometimes it doesnt need to be to be very good. I enjoyed this one thoroughly though drinking an entire bottle of this might be a task with the overpowering sweetness.

Had this one at a sauna complex in Bleiswijk, what a beautiful glass! It looks like a castle. Nice head but too sweet for my liking, nice round taste though. I much prefer the regular Kasteel beer.

33cl bottle as kasteel rouge. Pours bloody red with a pink head. Sweet cherries all over. Sugar and syrup. Lively carbonation. Touch of alcohol and acid. On the sweet side but somehow drinkable and well made.

Clear ruby red with a pink head. Big cherry cough drop aroma. Light to medium body with a prickly mouthfeel. Nice cherry juice flavor on a nuetral malt base. Very sweet.

Color is almost black, like a stout; head is pink and in bright light the body shines like a ruby. Perfectly blended sour and sweet cherry flavors with soft hints of chocolate, and very faint hints of wood and red wine and cola (also black currant, as another user stated) and possibly pomegranate and ambrosia as well. Almost mythical in flavor. Fizzy, round, and rich, a symphony of taste floating across your tongue and making sweet love to your tastebuds. Despite the rich flavor, it is just slightly less heavy than the blond and bruin Kasteel, and perhaps more charming for that reason. Beats every sweet and sour kriek I have had in Belgium. Even people I know who do not go for kriek or Kasteel had to admit this one was pretty damned good. I can’t imagine it tasting better than this--if it did, my tongue might have spasms. The head does indeed die fast, not that it mattered to me. One note--make sure you do not have a sweet dessert before you drink this or it might taste too sour; this beer itself can serve as a fantastic dessert. In my experience women are more inclined to enjoy kriek, but that is not always the case. If you like a truly sublime oak-barrel-aged dessert sherry, this will be right up your alley, and you might even like it better. Kriek of the GODS.

Bottled 750ml. -Dark red/ruby coloured, medium sized dark pink head that went away fast, sour cherry nose. Sweet and sour cherry taste with notes of marzipan. The finish and aftertaste is very sour and long lasting. One-dimensional but pleasant and refreshing kriek.